


The Birthmark

by fvlls



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill Cipher Being Bill Cipher, Bill Cipher is a Jerk, BillDip, Character Development, Demon Bill Cipher, Dipper and Mabel are 18, Fluff and Smut, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Human Bill Cipher, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Miscommunication, Possibly angst, Post-Weirdmageddon, Slow Burn, Weirdmageddon, but he gets character development, for Bill lol, kinda doubt it tho, later on I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:21:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25434583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fvlls/pseuds/fvlls
Summary: “A deal? With you? I’d rather drop dead, Cipher.” Dipper hissed.“Oh believe me, Pine Tree. I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse.” The dream demon replied smugly.
Relationships: Bill Cipher & Dipper Pines, Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines
Comments: 20
Kudos: 181





	1. The Deal

“DULL!” Bill Cipher shouted, disintegrating a Gravity Falls resident.

“STUPID!” He laughed maniacally, dooming another townsperson, while being careful not to stain the Fearamid with the townspersons remains.

“Inferior.” Bill said with a crazed look on his face, pointing at the Pine twins, ready to destroy the pair.

Cipher heard footsteps behind him and already knew who it was.

“STOP!” A familiar voice shouted. 

Bill mock-dramatically turned around. 

“Oh what’s this...? Fordsey decided to show up?“ He sang.  
“Oh, and Stanley’s here too.” The demon said in a repulsed tone.

“Hm. Honestly thought you’d be dead. It’s been years since we last saw each other after all.” Bill said condescendingly.

Anger surged through Stanford’s veins. Had he been a millisecond late, the closest people to him would’ve been killed.

“Don’t touch them.” Stanford commanded, trying not to let Bill sense the fear in his voice, but failing.

“Or I’ll knock your nonexistent teeth out, you scummy Evil Triangle!” Stanley added.

Bill could practically hear the worry in Ford’s voice. He then turned his attention to the twins, to see the boy with the funny hat shielding the girl with the dumb sweater while the boy was obviously quite shaken up himself. It’s hilarious how humans would risk their life for a ‘loved’ one. How can one value their life so little? To sacrifice their self for a mere human? ‘Love’ truly kills. Bill learned that the hard way.

Wait. 

Dumb sweater...? Funny hat...?

Is it — it can’t be.

It is!

“HAHA! Look what the cat dragged in. Pine Tree and Shooting Star? Huh, could’ve sworn I killed you two already. Guess not; I must’ve lost track.”

“What do you want from me?” Stanford growled.

Ford could not risk losing the twins. Not to Bill. Not to anyone.  
It’s been 6 years since Bill last payed Gravity Falls a visit. Everyone assumed the Dream Demon was gone.

“Aww don’t flatter yourself, Fordsey. You don’t have anything I want. Ever heard of revenge, Sixer?”

The Demon noticed heavy breathing coming from his right. He turned to face Dipper, who’s face was so full of emotion. Pain, sadness, anger, and fear.

“How.” Dipper cut in, wanting it to sound demanding but instead comes out as a mumble.

“What’s that?“

“HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!”

“Well, if you’d like me to put it in human terms — I do this,” Bill inhaled aggressively “Then this.” He exhaled. “As easy as that, kid.”

“Why would-“

“BLAH BLAH BLAH. Yikes, you people are b-o-r-i-n-g. Death is fun! Lighten up a bit, will ya? You’re depressing the henchmaniacs.” The One-Eyes demon scoffed.

Stanford was fed up. He wasn’t getting anywhere, trying to reason with Bill.

“I’LL DO ANY-“ Stanford started before Bill turned him to gold.

“Eh, I’ve been looking for a new backscratcher anyway.” The demon spoke.

“NO!” The twins cried out.

“NOW YOU LOW-LIFE PIECE OF-“ Stanley tried to say before he met the same fate as Stanford.

Mabel started bawling when Dipper tried to calm her down, tears streaming down his face as he tried to do so. This annoyed The Dream Demon. 

“Bill Cipher!” Dipper huffed. “Let my Grunkles go now, OR ELSE!”

Bill completely ignored Dipper and looked down upon him, as if he was nothing.

“I’m serious! I’ve got the journal that contains all of your weaknesses, you snake.” He gulped, hoping the demon wouldn’t call his bluff.

Bill was unamused. Oh how easy it was to sense the boys lies.  
“I’m so scared! Whatever will I do now!”  
The demon mocked.

“HAHA, just kidding. La da dee, la da POOF!”

Bill sang as he set fire to the journal in Dipper’s hands, causing the boy to drop it on instinct.

The demon’s cackles boomed throughout the Fearamid.  
“You know what? I’m up for a game of darts. Anyone else?” Bill laughed, looking at the petrified self of Ford with revulsion. He then eyed the siblings for a long while.

“Ooh! They’d make great targets.” Bill taunted, while pointing at the twins.

The henchmaniacs closed in on the two when Mabel jumped at Teeth with all her strength hoping it was enough to knock out one of its teeth while Dipper went for Pyronica’s eye. They were both unsuccessful and ended up being held upside down by the henchmaniacs, ready to be the targets in a game of darts.  
Bill conjured the darts and was about to take the first shot at Dipper before something caught his eye.

Cipher inched closer to the brunet, and stared at his exposed forehead in disbelief.  
“Impossible...” He whispered under his breath.  
Bill hadn’t seen anything like this for eons.

 _“Great. Even when I’m about to die, someone’s gonna make fun of my birthmark.”_ Dipper thought to himself.

“No, I’m not making fun of ya, kid. I’m just... curious.” Bill replied.

Dipper simply stared back at the Triangle.  
_“Did he just —”_  
_“Honestly, why am I not surprised.”_ He muttered to himself.

Bill seemed to be contemplating something. He proceeded to say something that shocked even the henchmaniacs.

“Actually, I’ve had a change of heart. Care to make a deal, kid?” The demon chirped.

Dipper couldn’t so much as think of making a deal with The Demon without being overwhelmed with disgust.

“A deal? With you? I’d rather drop dead, Cipher.” He hissed.

Little did he know, Bill had a deal he couldn’t refuse.

“Ooh, feisty, are we? You’ve changed a lot, Pine Tree.”

“But I get it, you drive a hard bargain. I think you might change your mind, though.  
Here’s the deal: I spare Shooting Star, I fix Fordsey, I don’t hurt Stanley, and I don’t bother anyone in Gravity Falls. In return, you come and live with me until further notice.” Bill added.

The whole room went silent.

Dipper was dumbfounded.  
“What?” He asked blankly.

“I don’t repeat myself.” Bill deadpanned.

Mabel looked repulsed, why would that dumb demon even ask such a thing?! He already knows the answer! Dipper would never.

“Absolutely not!” She blurted out, on behalf of her brother. Or so she thought.

Dipper seemed to be deep in thought. Was he... seriously considering it?!

“Sucks to suck, but it’s not your deal to accept, Princess.” Bill said.

“And why should I trust you?” Dipper questioned.

“Kid, not even I can go back on a deal.”

After what seemed like forever, Dipper finally answered.

“Okay.” 

Bill was thrilled, but he couldn’t let anyone see that.  
He gestured for his henchmaniacs to put the boy down.

Mabel was in shock. She struggled to stutter out a response. She knew her brother responds to facts better than emotion, so she decided to go the more rational route.

“Dipper. You’ll die.” She tried to say without bursting into tears at the thought.

Dipper paused for a few seconds and turned to look at his sister with a face she’s never seen before. Pure sadness. Loss. Yet, he was trying to put on a brave face for her. He looked back at her sympathetically. Lovingly.

“I love you, Mabes.” He whispered with tears in his eyes.  
Dipper leaned in and kissed Mabel’s head.

“DON’T DO THIS! PLEASE!”  
She squirmed in place, trying to get out of the henchmaniac’s grip, trying to save her brother. She couldn’t let him die.

Dipper seemed to ignore her and held his hand out, ready to seal the deal. His eyes slowly filling with tears; knowing this is probably the last time he’ll see his family.

“Smart kid.” Bill grinned and shook the boy’s hand.

Their hands were engulfed in a blue flame. Seeing the flame made Dipper flinch, he expected it to burn. When in actuality it didn’t feel like anything.

A snap of Bill’s fingers sends the boy into a deep sleep, and teleports him to — who knows where.

Bill snapped his fingers again and Mabel, Stan and Ford were suddenly back home, just waking up. Along with everyone else in Gravity Falls. As if nothing had ever happened. 

Gravity Falls was no longer flooded with the blood red skies; everything was back to normal. Everyone assumed it was just a bad dream. Everyone but the Pines family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first ever fanfic andjmajsh I don’t know if I did well but I’m enjoying writing this so far, so maybe I’ll make it longer than I originally intended, who knows.


	2. Disco Girl

_“Ugh...”_ Dipper grunted and lifted his heavy eyelids. _“Why am I so sore.”_ He grumbled silently, examining his surroundings. He was in this bubble-like orb. It reminded him of the bubble Bill put Mabel in years ago; during the first Weirdmageddon. 

“Finally awake!” Said a voice in a deep tone that startled Dipper. The sound seemed to be altered in the bubble. Everything sounded deeper. Slower. _Scarier._

There was a long pause before Dipper replied.

“Yeah.”

“You’re a sleep talker, you know that? It was hilarious!” The voice laughed.

A few seconds later the bubble popped, and Dipper was much higher off the ground than he expected. The brunet was inches from hitting the cold, hard ground before he stopped in his place. After a surprising amount of struggle, he finally flipped himself over and stood up.

He saw Bill next to him, seemingly busy with something. This caught the boys interest. He tried to peep at it, without raising suspicion. The last thing he wanted to do was anger the dream demon. Dipper only managed to catch a glimpse of what Bill was looking at, and a lot of the text was unreadable. 

“Nosy, I see?”

Dipper jumped. He was so engrossed with trying to recognize familiar symbols in the unreadable text that he forgot he was supposed to be discreet about it.

Dipper rolled his eyes.  
“What are you going to do with me here?” He complained.

“Nothing too bad, Pine tree. Just some... experiments.” Cipher said with a mischievous edge to his voice.

_“‘Experiments?’ Probably code for ‘torture.’ Might as well make the most of this place, I guess.”_ Dipper thought to himself.

“Is there anywhere I can go where I won’t, you know, die?”

Bill turned to face the younger male, making whatever he was reading disappear in the blink of an eye.  
“Got any hobbies?”

Dipper didn’t expect the dream demon to actually answer him, so it took him by surprise.

“Oh uh, I like writing in my journal — which doesn’t exist anymore, wonder why,” He replied passive aggressively. “I like photography, solving mysteries, and I tinker sometimes.”

“Sounds boring, kid. What about that Lamby Lamby dance?” Bill teased. “Or maybe Disco Girl?” He cackled.

Dipper felt his face flush. He didn’t like people making fun of him, it brought back bad memories.

“How do you know about that, you bastard.“ He snapped back.

“I’m all-knowing, did you forget that, Disco Girl?” Bill mocked.

“Oh by the way, your room’s that way. 8 ball will take you.”

“8 what?” Dipper said as he turned around to face a green goblin with two 8-balls for eyes standing right behind him. Dipper followed him to his new ‘room.’

Whilst walking away Dipper heard Bill start singing.

“Disco Girl, coming through. That girl is you!” He taunted with a chuckle.  
Obviously to embarrass the brunet.

“I despise you, Bill Cipher.” Dipper muttered through gritted teeth.

———————————

To Dippers surprise, he was standing in a fairly normal looking room. Nothing too out of the ordinary. If anything, it was pretty bland. He walked over to his bed, expecting little demon creatures to pop up, or something. But no, nothing. Just a plain old bed. There were even a few books on the nightstand. This was suspicious to say the least. What would Bill know about normal, human rooms? Better yet, why would Bill care to give his captive a comfy looking room? _“Enough with the overthinking, Dipper,”_ he said to himself. _“It’s probably just a coincidence — or something.”_

He sat on the edge of his bed and he was overwhelmed with the feeling of boredom. He wanted to do something, anything! But he didn’t want to risk crossing the dream demon. What if he hurt Dipper? 

Talking about ‘hurt’, his left side was really sore. And slightly more red than the rest of his body. He didn’t think much of it, though. He was in a weird unworldly flying pyramid, after all. The last of his problems should be some muscle sores.

What could he do to pass the time? Oh, books!

He picked up a book that was on his bedside table, and decided to read it to pass the time.  
It was... a dictionary? Is this what Bill thinks humans read?  
“Pff, “all knowing” my ass.” He laughed.  
 _“I don’t really have anything better to do, though. Guess I’m gonna have to read the dictionary, how fun.”_ He sarcastically said to himself.

———————————

Dipper woke up to this burning sensation on his back. He turned around to see the dream demon sitting next to his bed, staring at him. This startled the younger male. 

“God! How long have you been sitting there?!” Dipper exclaimed.

“Only since you started sleeping.” Bill replied.

“That’s creepy,” He trailed off, looking at Bill judgingly. “Ack, my back is killing me.”

“Oh? Turn around, let me check it out.” Cipher spoke curiously.

“Huh?! Definitely not. Like I said, creepy!”

“What’s the big deal? I can’t have my experiment getting hurt now can I?” Bill declared and pulled Dippers arm, trying to turn him around before Dipper inhaled sharply, and let out a small shriek.

“What the fuck did you do?!” The brunet accused; looking down at his arm, that had a blazing red mark in the shape of Bill’s hand.

_“Seriously, Bill? How dumb could you have been? You could’ve hurt the kid! Whatever, just play it cool.”_ The demon mumbled silently.

“Oh, I might’ve forgotten that humans can’t bask in my excellence for too long without slowly deteriorating,” Bill joked.  
Dipper glared at the demon before Bill nervously laughed and apologized. “Uh, sorry, kid.” He said reluctantly. 

“But it’s an easy fix, don’t worry. I can touch you soon!” Bill declared.

Dipper raised an eyebrow and wondered if Bill was just really bad at wording things, or if the evil triangle meant something else.

While Dipper was contemplating all that, he snapped out of it when he heard Bill’s voice.

“How do I look, Pine tree?”

Dipper turned to see Bill Cipher.. as a human? He was tall. He had shaved, though not too short, black hair on the sides of his head, with a tuft of blonde hair at the top. He wore a white dress shirt with a black bow tie topped off with a golden vest and a long golden coattail; along with black dress pants paired with black dress shoes. And of course, his black cane.

“Whoa...” Dipper trailed off while eyeing Bill up and down.

_“Why... is he kinda hot?!”_ He thought to himself.  
Dipper looked at Bill to be met with a sly grin. Then he realized — _“He can read minds, you moron.”_  
_“Oh boy.”_ Dipper prepared himself for the insults Bill would probably throw at him. 

“Pine tree,“ The dream demon started. Dipper flinched, and readied himself for the teasing before Bill said, “Thank you.” Though he said it in such a smug way, as if he was full of it, it was much better than what Dipper expected.

Bill strolled out of the room with his head held high, probably to annoy the shorter male.

After Bill left the room, Dipper mentally beat himself up.

_“He’s a demon that doomed your family and your town TWICE, for God’s sake.”_

————————————

Back at Gravity Falls, Mabel was already plotting a rescue plan for her brother. While Ford and Stan knew they couldn’t try to save Dipper, they still helped out. If they tried rescuing Dipper, Bill would bring Weirdmageddon back to Gravity Falls, and he’d probably kill everyone else here too. The older twins couldn’t risk that. They’d never tell that to Mabel, though. Just the thought of her brother never coming back would petrify her.

“Mabel. The key is in the detail,” Ford started. “Bill‘s deal was vague. Which doesn’t really help our case, but he _did_ say, ‘until further notice’ which means he _has_ to return Dipper — at some point.”

“So what’re we supposed to do now?! Just wait while Dipper could be- “ Mabel huffed “He could be...” At this point, she was damn near a breakdown. She couldn’t say _dead_ while referencing her brother, without coming apart at the seams. He can’t be dead. He _won’t_ be dead. Mabel wouldn’t allow it.


	3. The Beach

Bill was slouching on his throne, fiddling with the edge of his tailcoat, before a question popped into his head. 

“How do I get Pine Tree to warm up to me?” He said, flipping through all the ideas in his head.

“I’ll never get anywhere with my experiments if he doesn’t cooperate, _willingly._ Let alone if he hates me.” He sighed.  
“Just do what you do best, Bill.”  
_“Lie.”_

Cipher heard a thud in the distance, as though someone had dropped something. He decided to walk to the source of the sound.

Nothing.

How odd, he could’ve sworn he heard an object fall.  
Bill scratched his head. What could it have been?  
“Eh, probably one of the henchmaniacs being halfwits.” He shrugged.

Little did Bill know someone overheard the little conversation he had with himself.

_“He should be awake by now, perfect time to put my plan in motion.”_ The dream demon told himself as he walked over to the shorter males room.

“Good morning, Pine Tree~!“  
Bill chirped, opening the room’s door.

“Good... morning.” The boy replied hesitantly.

“Guess what we’re doing today?”

“Sitting on my bed doing absolutely nothing the whole day?”

“Close enough. We’re going to the beach!”

“Wait, really?” Dipper was pleasantly surprised.

Bill replied with a wink, signifying a ‘yes’.

“Go get dressed, kid.”

The second Bill left the room Dipper bolted to the closet. A chance to leave this hellish place?! Fuck yeah!

Dipper stared at all the clothes in his closet. None of them were his. In fact, he had no idea who they belonged to. He simply assumed Bill conjured up a few tees and pants and called it a day.  
He saw a fluffy black sweater and he instantly thought of Mabel. Oh how she loved her sweaters. Even the itchy ones she got for Christmas.  
“I miss you, sis.” Dipper said with tears forming in his eyes. He just wanted this hell to be over. He wanted to see his family.  
_“Let’s get this day over with already.”_

Dipper saw swimming trunks in the corner of his eye. And although he hates swimming, he still decided to grab them; just in case. 

Dipper had a deep seated fear of the ocean, so swimming was a big no-no in his book. 

Bill barged into Dipper’s room.

_“This guy needs to learn how to knock.”_ Dipper internally rolled his eyes.

“You ready?” Bill asked.

“Yeah. So... are we taking a car or?-“

“Pff, a _car?_ Nice joke, Pine tree. No, we’re not taking a car.”

“So what _are_ we taking.”

“Just take my hand.”

“...seriously?”

“Come on, kid. I don’t bite.” Bill smiled, flashing his sharp teeth with a scarily-wide grin.

Dipper looked up at Bill and grabbed his hand.

Within a split second, they’re both standing on the beach.

Dipper hated to admit it, but he was impressed.

“Hah, that was kinda cool.” Dipper said with a slight laugh.

“Ya think?”

“Yeah... Should I set the blanket?” The brunet asked.

“That won’t be needed.” The demon smiled and within a snap of his fingers, the blanket was set. Along with a picnic basket filled with food and two beach chairs.

Dipper walked over to the blanket and sat on one of the beach chairs. He tossed a grape into his mouth whilst doing so.

It had been quite a while since Dipper had left his room, so the breath of fresh air was much needed.

“You’re not gonna swim, kid?” Dipper heard on his right.  
“Swimming isn’t fun.”

“I beg to differ! C’mon, go change.”

“No, seriously-“

“Yada yada yada, changing room’s that way.”  
Bill taunted, pointing at two blue and pink colored changing rooms.

Reluctantly, Dipper got up and changed into his swimming trunks.  
When he got back, he saw that Bill had already changed. 

_“Huh, wouldn’t expect a triangular demon to have a body like that.”_ He mentioned to himself.

Dipper never realized how... muscular — but lean — Bill was. The opposite of himself. Dipper was fairly short, though he was lean too, just without all the muscles. And he had a pretty normal face, nothing too special. While Bill had a solid 6-pack, a handsome face, gorgeous hair—  
“Pine Tree, over here!” interrupted Bill.

Dipper suddenly blushed at the realization.  
_“What the fuck were you just thinking? What if he heard you? Jesus, Dipper.”_ He snarled to himself.

The younger male walked to the seashore and dipped his toes in.  
_“Ack- cold.”_ Was his first thought.

Dipper heard Bill come up behind him but was too embarrassed to face the older male.

“Damn kid, you’ve gotta live a little.”

“Wh-“ Dipper tried to say before Bill picked him up and hurled him into the water.

Dipper gasped at the sudden shock of cold water on his warm skin.

All the while Bill was laughing his ass off at the seaside.

“Oh it’s on!” Dipper exclaimed with a laugh.

He sprinted to land and pushed Bill into the water as hard as he could. Catching Cipher off guard, since he was too busy laughing. By doing so, the brunet also flung himself into the water. They were both howling with laughter at this point.

Dipper splashed Bill with some water and Bill took that as a declaration of war, which didn’t work out well for the kid since Bill had magic on his side. Luckily for Dipper, they were in water. Before the wave of water hit him, Dipper ducked into the water and pulled Bill’s leg, causing the taller male to slip and fall underwater.

“Maybe revenge isn’t too bad.” Dipper joked.

“You don’t even know, Pine Tree.” Bill said slyly with a smug smirk.

Dipper was suddenly aware of the suggestive position they were in. Dipper was on top of Bill and their faces were surprisingly close. 

Dipper suddenly jumped up, embarrassed. 

“The sun is setting, we should get out of the water.” Dipper said, avoiding Bill’s eyes.

“Why? You scared of the dark?”

Dipper rolled his eyes.

“Are we gonna head back?” He asked.

“Head back? Kid, we’re just getting started.” The blond replied with a mischievous smile.

“What else do you humans do on the beach?”

“I have no idea. I’m not the most sociable person, if you haven’t noticed.”

Bill gave him a ‘just spit it out’ look.

“Maybe a bonfire? With s’mores, I guess.” Dipper said with a sigh.

“S’mores?”

“You don’t know what s’mores are?!” Dipper exclaimed “You’re really missing out.”

“I’m not missing out on anything as long as I’m with you, Pine Tree~”

Dipper was sick of Bill’s fake-flirtatious comments, they always catch him off guard.

“Pff, did you get that line out of a 2004 Disney Channel movie?” Dipper giggled.

Bill never realized how sweet Dipper’s laughs sounded. And how better he looked when he was smiling. Cipher could listen to him laugh all day. It was mesmerizing.

“Yikes, was it that cheesy?” Bill laughed.

“Hah, a bit. Oh, about the bonfire.”

“Done and done!” Bill chirped.

Dipper turned around to see a giant bonfire. Beside a table filled with marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. And a wooden bench, supposedly for them to sit on.

“Oo, fancy.” The brunet was impressed.

“Only the best for you, kid.”

This time the younger male smiled at the comment.

_“All according to plan. I’m wooing this kid already. Ah, these humans are too easy to manipulate.”_ Bill crowed in his head, slouching back with his hands behind his head.  
He couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt while saying that. This made his eyes fly open.  
_“Me?! Guilt?! The fuck is wrong with you today, Cipher,”_  
_“You’re the soon-to-be most powerful being in all of existence, you don’t get there by feeling guilty. And this fleshbag has the key to unlocking all you’ve ever wanted.”_

“Hey, you okay?” Dipper cut in.

“Perfectly fine.” Bill said as he plastered on a fake smile. The kid is insanely perceptive, one of the reasons Bill likes him, so he can’t risk Dipper catching onto his true intentions.

“Here.” Bill heard on his right and turned to face the younger male handing him a s’more, with a smile.

“Aww, how sweet. Pines boy isn’t as mean as he seems to be.” Bill teased.

“Just try it!”

Bill bit into the s’more and was shocked; this is delicious! Maybe the kid’s got a point.

“Damn, this is pretty tasty! Human food might not be as tasteless as I thought it was.”

“You have no idea.”

“Hey Bill, can I ask you something?” Dipper added.

“Mhm.” Bill mumbled, face stuffed with s’mores.

“Will I ever go back home?”

_Shit._

Bill knew this question would come up, but didn’t expect it to come so early.

To be honest, not even Bill knew the answer to that.

_“Just tell him what he wants to hear.”_

“Of course you will, Pine Tree.” Bill replied.

Dipper beamed, “Seriously?! Thank you!” He exclaimed and jumped at Bill with a big hug.

There it was again. That looming feeling of guilt. In any other scenario, Bill would be ecstatic at the younger male not ignoring him — let alone _hugging_ him.

The second Dipper heard those words, he felt as though a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders. This question has been hovering around in his head since the day he started living in the Fearamid. He was so worried about seeing his family, that he lost track of the weeks. Maybe even months— Oh, he forgot to ask.

“When?”

“Hm?”

“When will I be let go?”

“Uh-“

_“Snake yourself out of this, Bill. Don’t give the kid an exact date or else you’re fucked.”_ He said to himself.

“You’ll know soon, Pine Tree.” Bill said with a wink.

Dipper took that as a ‘soon’. He was over the moon.  
_“Oh my god, imagine all the crazy sights I can tell Mabel and Grunkle Ford about. Hell, even Grunkle Stan would be interested!”_ He gushed to himself.

“Wanna head back?” Bill suggested. The look of pure thrill on Dipper’s face didn’t bring Cipher the joy it did a few hours ago. He couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if- no, when Dipper found out. Bill wanted to see Dipper happy, just not... like this.

“Well, I don’t mind staying a bit longer. It’s uh— the weather’s nice.” Dipper said with a slight blush.

“Right... the weather.” Bill smirked.

“No, seriously. Look!” Dipper gestured to the setting sun and rising stars.

Bill never really stops to admire the beauty of Earth. Or anything, really. It felt nice to pause for a moment and enjoy the little things.

“Huh. The weather _is_ nice, isn’t it.”

Bill turned to Dipper and realized the brunets goosebumps were practically jumping out of him, he was freezing. Understandably so. The younger male was still in his swimming trunks and was shirtless. The chilly night breeze must be unbearable. Heat and cold doesn’t bother Bill at all, but humans are an odd species to say the least.  
“Here.” Bill started and wrapped the shorter boy in a blanket.  
Dipper was practically wrapped like a burrito, he could barely move. He appreciated the sweet gesture, though.  
“This is a bit too big for me alone, so,” Dipper got up and sat right next to Bill, throwing him the end of the blanket “Sharing is caring after all.”

Bill wanted to say something but he really didn’t want to ruin the moment. Not this one. He had a tendency to ruin... absolutely everything he touches.  
All he could do was snake his hand around Dipper’s waist, and pull him closer.  
To Bill’s surprise, Dipper didn’t mind.

They sat there, gazing at the stars and listening to the ocean waves break on the shore.

Bill never wanted this night to end. Could he actually have a... friend? The dream demon always thought friends were overrated and only got in your way. Maybe they aren’t too bad.  
Bill’s thought process was cut off by Dipper sniffling. Bill turned to see the brunet asleep. The boy’s fluffy hair was laying atop his resting eyes. Bill pulled Dipper closer, and put the younger boy’s head on his shoulder. The Pine’s boy was smiling. He must be having a nice dream.

_“I wonder what he’s dreaming about. HAH, just kidding! I don’t need to wonder, I can just check in.”_ Bill thought to himself. Even in his own head, he sounded narcissistic.

Bill peeked into the younger boy’s head.

“Over here, bro-bro!” He heard behind him.  
It was young Mabel.

Then a splash.

“Ahh, cold cold cold!!!” A younger version of Dipper seemed to say as he was sprayed with a water pistol.

“Wimp!” Mabel mocked.

“You’re the wimp!” Dipper started as he pulled out a giant water pistol, supposedly one he built himself. “Any last words?”

“Yes,” Mabel said with a self-righteous smile.  
“CANDY!!” She shouted as Candy, her childhood friend, jumped out from behind a tree and tackled Dipper.

_“Aww, it’s hilarious how humans can occupy themselves with so little. It’s... cute.”_ Bill thought.

Bill sat around and watched the young Dipper and Mabel play around for a while, before the ground started shaking. The sky was engulfed in an off-putting shade of scarlet. Someone’s voice boomed throughout the dream.

“DID YA MISS ME, KIDS?”

It was... _himself._

Dream Bill was gigantic, and everything he touched, turned to ash. The giant triangle picked up Dipper and squeezed him so hard the little boy could barely breathe.

“HAHAHA, YOU’RE PATHETIC. JUST A TINY FLESHBAG BORN OF THE MOST DEGENERATE SPECIES KNOWN TO THE UNIVERSE. _HUMANS.”_ Dream Bill thundered.

This wasn’t a dream, this was a nightmare.

Bill, the current one, was fuming at the sight.  
“No one touches Pine Tree.” He practically whispered through clenched teeth.

_“But... that’s me. Is this how Pine Tree sees me?”_ He thought.  
That was irrelevant now. He had to get the boy out of this mess. He left the dream and woke Dipper up.

“Huh? Where are we?” The brunet said in a dazed manner.  
“Heading home, kid.” Bill spoke, face still in a twist.

———————————

Dipper was back in his room. He jumped onto his bed with a sigh before he heard a knock on the door.  
Without waiting for a reply, Bill barged in.

“Did you enjoy today, kid?”

Dipper gave the demon a shy smile.

“As much as I’d hate to admit it, today was pretty fun. Uh- thank you.” Dipper said, avoiding Bill’s eyes.

_“Too cute.”_ Bill thought.  
“T’was a pleasure, Pine Tree~” He said with a wink.

“I’m assuming this is apart of the ‘experiment.’ I mean why else would you take me? But nonetheless, I enjoyed today.” Dipper added with a smile.

Right— ‘experiment’. Bill couldn’t believe he forgot all about that. Could he have had ‘fun’ too?

“Sleep tight, kid.”

As Bill left the room, he was already contemplating where he’d take the boy tomorrow. For once, he was actually looking forward to something. Something not destructive, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was filled to the brim with clichés and silly tropes, I love it 🥺


	4. Silent Treatment

“Rise and shine, k-“  
Bill paused after he realized the room was empty.

He walked around the room, puzzled.

“Kid? You in there?” He asked, opening the bathroom door.

Empty.

Bill was pissed. He spent the night planning a fun day for the two, since they both enjoyed the beach so much. And now the boy isn’t even here?

 _“Now where the fuck could he be?”_  
Bill wondered, starting to get irritated.

He left Dipper’s room and walked over to the Henchmaniacs, who were seeing who could down the most Space Punch in one gulp.

“Where’s the kid?” Bill asked, approaching them from behind.

The Henchmaniacs stopped in their tracks.

They all looked away, awkwardly.

“Well, here’s the thing, boss. It’s a funny story,” Pyronica said with a nervous chuckle.  
“The kid wanted to visit his family and he knew he had to come back so we...” She trailed off ”Sorta maybe let him go for the evening?”  
She said, cringing to prepare herself for Bill’s outburst.

“You **WHAT?!** ” Bill grew in anger.

“Wait, boss! He knows he has to come back or else his family’s life is in danger, there’s nothing to worry about!!”

Bill simply stared at the Henchmaniacs.

“Uh- He looked like he really wanted to go! He broke our hearts.” Key-hole added.

“Hearts?! You measly creatures don’t HAVE _hearts._ ” Cipher fumed.

“Are you... gonna wait for him to return or go get him?“ Pyronica added, careful not to push his buttons any further.

Bill took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. _“The morons are right, for once. He’s going to come back. Plus, he just wants to see his sister. What’s the worst that can happen.”_ He thought.

“No, I’m not going to go get him,” Bill began, “But I _will_ be spying on him.” He said with a spiteful spin to his voice.

Bill walked over to his throne, getting ready to eavesdrop on Pine Tree. He stopped walking when he decided he’ll go to the Mystery Shack himself instead of just snooping with his powers. It made no difference to him, but he wanted to be in a close proximity with the kid.

Bill left the Fearamid and appeared outside of the Mystery Shack within seconds. Stan and Ford were mere inches away from him. He raised an eyebrow when Ford walked right through him, before he remembered no one can see or hear him when he’s in this form.

“Pacifica, your parents-!“ Ford began before he realized Pacifica was no where to be seen.

“Mabel! Have you seen Pacifica? Her parents are expecting her.” Ford shouted, since Mabel was quite far away.

“On that note, where’s Dipper?” Stan asked.

Mabel walked over to them.  
“Pretty sure she’s with Dipper, who knows what they’re doing.” She said with a wink.

“We finally see him and he’s out frolicking with some valley girl and not his Grunkle Stan?” Stan grumbled, “Whatever. I’m happy the kid’s finally getting some girls, eh?”

Mabel giggled at that.

Bill, on the other hand, was shell-shocked.  
_“He’s doing **what** with **who?!** ” _  
Bill clenched his teeth and instantly teleported to the brunet. Dipper was sitting on a hill, overlooking the lake. 

He was alone. This calmed Bill down a bit. He knew better than to believe those bumbling idiots Pine Tree calls family anyway.

Bill heard footsteps coming up from behind the younger male.

“Hey, Dip.” A feminine voice spoke.

Dipper was startled; and he turned around.  
His eyes went wide.

“Uh- oh. Pacifica?” Dipper stumbled over his words with a nervous laugh.

“I heard you came back. And er, I thought I’d tell you,” She smiled at Dipper, “Welcome back.” 

“I missed you, Dipper,” She added, hurt crossing her face. “A lot.”

“I missed you too.” Dipper said with a soft smile. He thought it was a miracle his voice didn’t crack. He wasn’t exactly the best at talking to girls.

 _“Is he... interested in her?”_ Bill felt this odd feeling in his chest. What is this? Jealousy?  
Impossible. Bill is never jealous, he has everything he’d ever want after all.

“Actually,” Dipper began, “I won’t be staying here for long. I need to get back to the Fearamid before Bill catches on.”  
“Oh my Gosh, I forgot to ask. What is he doing to you in there? Are you okay?!” She exclaimed, reaching for his arms to check for any injuries.

“Yeah, I’m fine. And he doesn’t do anything to me, don’t worry.”  
Pacifica shot Dipper an ‘are you sure about that?’ look.

“Pff, shut up!” He said with a laugh, “I’m seriously fine.”

“Mhm.” She hummed doubtably.

They both gazed at the sunset.

“The view is amazing.” Pacifica sighed in admiration.

“Right! This is one of my favorite places to relax and gather my thoughts.” Dipper gushed.

 _“What is this bitch getting at?”_ Bill wondered, not liking how this is going.

A few minutes later, Bill felt a hand brush upon his.  
He turned to see Pacifica looking at him with an awkward smile. Dipper has no idea what to do in these situations, so he held her hand. As a response, she put her head on his shoulder. Oh, how long it’s been since he’s been in the embrace of another, _real_ , human. It felt nice.

At this point, Bill was losing it.  
_“Don’t you fucking touch him, you brat.”_ Bill thundered. But alas, no one could hear him unless he broke the spell. And if he broke the spell, Dipper would go ape-shit and lose all trust in him. Also, a little part of him wanted to see where this was going. He wanted to see if the boy would stay loyal to him.

“Hey Dipper, you said you needed to head back in a bit, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, we should take advantage of the moment while we still can, no?” She said with a mischievous smile.

“What do you-“ Dipper began before he realized how close her face was to his.

Pacifica put her hand and on his chest and slowly leaned in for a kiss.

 _“NO.”_ It took all of Bill’s willpower to not break the spell and choke that _Pacifica_ right then and there.

Dipper’s heart was beating so fast, it almost jumped out of his chest. He’s never kissed anyone before, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted Pacifica to be his first.

 _“DON’T FUCKING TRY IT, PINE TREE.”_  
Bill had doubled in size, his whole body turned blood-red and coal black at this point. He was so engulfed in fury that it sent a shockwave towards the two.

The shockwave made them both jump, interrupting what was about to happen.

“What was THAT?!” Pacifica gulped.

“Shit. Bill must’ve realized I left. He’s probably up in the Fearamid chewing out the Henchmaniacs.”

“The what?-“

“Tell Mabel, Stan and Ford that I had to leave early. Bye!” Dipper interrupted, running off.

They must’ve not noticed Bill was there.

Bill watched the boy run off as fast as he could, trying to get to the Fearamid.  
The dream demon replayed what was about to happen in his head and was overcome with rage again.  
That little wretch was about to kiss Pine Tree.  
Bill destroyed a grove of trees in his outrage. He had to stay away from the brunet before he did something he’ll regret.

———————————

Back at the Fearamid, Dipper wondered where Bill was. He asked the Henchmaniacs but none of them gave him an actual answer.

 _“If that wasn’t Bill, then what caused that shockwave?”_ Dipper wondered.  
_“You’re in Gravity Falls, the epitome of weirdness. Don’t be surprised.”_ Dipper answered himself.  
Regardless, Dipper decided to sleep since it was getting pretty late.  
For some reason, though, he couldn’t sleep. He felt like something was missing. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, though.

 _“Oh.”_

He realized what felt so different.

Usually, before Dipper would go to sleep, Bill would enter the boy’s room and he’d tell Dipper to “Sleep tight,” while caressing his cheek. Bill would assume Dipper is asleep when half of the time he isn’t, but the brunet doesn’t mind. Apparently he’s gotten used to it too, since he can’t sleep without it.

 _“What are you, 5? Waiting for mommy to read you a bedtime story? Stop being a baby and sleep.”_ Dipper told himself as he tossed and turned in bed.

———————————

Dipper woke up.  
He expected Bill to burst into his room, shouting “Mornin, Pine Tree~!” or something.  
But no, no one came.

Dipper assumed Bill still hadn’t come back, before he left his room and walked over to where Bill would usually be at this time.

There he is.

“You’re awake.” Bill said, coldly. He didn’t even bother to look at Dipper. Which was peculiar, especially coming from Bill. Almost every word he says is filled with emotion. Usually sarcasm, but still emotion. He sounded different. He sounded... angry.

There was a slight pause.

“I am.” Dipper replied.

“Wasn’t a question.” Bill snapped.

Dipper ignored that.  
After a long and awkward 10 seconds, he tried to break the ice.

“Hey, wanna go somewhere toda-?” He tried to say.

“Where were you yesterday.” Bill interrupted, still not bothering to look at the brunet. As if he was talking to a nobody. He was reading that _thing_ he reads everyday.

“Ah, so you _were_ here yesterday,” Dipper sighed, “I went out to see my family.”

“That’s all?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s all you did?”

“Well yeah,” Dipper said with confusion, “We didn’t plot an escape plan if that’s what you’re asking.“

Bill didn’t reply.

“So, are we gonna go somewhere or not?” Dipper asked impatiently.

Bill got up and walked away, acting fake-distracted while reading a paper he conjured up.

 _“What’s up with this guy?”_ Dipper asked himself.

“Bill.”  
The dream demon stopped in his tracks, though he didn’t turn around.

“Can you stop giving me the silent treatment and just tell me what’s going on?”

“There’s nothing going on.” Bill spat almost bitterly, with a smile so fake it was surprising.

“Whatever you say,” Dipper began with an annoyed shrug. “You leave me no choice, though. I’ll follow you around until you tell me what’s wrong.” He added eagerly.

Bill walked the hall where the Henchmaniacs were having a big party, as usual. He sat down and poured himself a cup of purple colored liquid topped off with eyeballs inside. Dipper sat infront of him, hoping Bill would look at him.

Bill was still reading that dumb piece of paper — or whatever it is.

“Bill, look at me!” Dipper exclaimed.

He ignored Dipper as he took a long sip of the purple liquid.

Dipper tried snatching it out of the dream demons hand. Not surprisingly, Bill has an iron grip.

Dipper resorted to his last option: forcing Bill to look at him. Since he can’t pull away the paper, he had to get infront of it. Bill was holding the paper infront of him with two hands and had his elbows on the table, which made a perfect circular opening. Dipper got up and slithered under Bill’s arms, causing their faces to be so close they could feel the others breathing. Bill seemed to be shocked at first, and Dipper could’ve sworn he saw Bill’s lip curl into a smirk. Before realization and anger flashed across the older male’s face. Bill got up and and started walking away again.

“The minx would enjoy that, I bet.” He scoffed as he walked away.

“The- what?”

Bill turned and looked at Dipper in the eyes. Dipper realized Bill’s face was flooding with anger, maybe even disgust.

“You were watching me?” Dipper muttered.  
“Even if you were, what’s your point?” He added. “Why are you mad?”

“I don’t like you getting all chummy with her.” Bill quipped, walking closer to the boy.

“Why? You jealous?” Dipper joked.

Dipper stopped laughing when he saw the look on Bill’s face. He was red with wrath, and his eyes had turned black. Dipper was slightly startled at the sight.

“You’re... kidding. Right?” Dipper laughed anxiously in an ‘is this guy serious’? way. “Bill, I don’t even know if I consider you a _friend_ yet. Let alone anything more than that. No offense, but have you forgotten who you are?! You’re the demon who almost slaughtered everyone I love.”

Bill instantly transformed to his normal self after what Dipper said had settled in.

_Dipper doesn’t like him._

Bill never bothered to ask the younger boy what he sees him as. He simply assumed the brunet already took a liking to him.  
“I mean, why wouldn’t he? Look at me!” Bill bragged to himself.

Bill internally let out a long groan and squeezed his temples.

 _“Great, the kid still hates my guts.”_  
He thought before his eyes lit up with an idea _“...But I can change that.”_

“Challenge accepted.” Bill prattled.

“Huh?”

“Challenge accepted, kid. I’ll make you see me as more than a _friend_ soon.”

 _“Ah, I never could refrain from accepting a good dare.”_ Dipper thought.

“What? No that wasn’t what I was trying to say at all-“

“Ah, you reminded me. That stunt you just pulled? It took some guts, Pine Tree,” Bill sang, referencing the fact that Dipper had gotten him to stop looking at the paper, “Wanna try it again?”

Dipper calmed down a bit. Hearing Bill say ‘Pine Tree’ and seeing him act normally again made him feel so much better. He’d never admit it, though.

“Glad to see you’re back to normal.” Dipper said with an eye roll as he left the room.

 _“Guess you’ve got a new objective, Cipher,”_ He thought as he watched the boy walk away.

_“Make him yours.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had **so** many ideas for this chapter but I decided to go with this one because why not lol.


	5. The Tease

Dipper woke up, surprisingly not tired for once. He hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since before Weirdmageddon, so this was refreshing. He thought of going back to sleep before he heard grumbling next to him. He was suddenly aware of the warmth grasping his waist and pulling him close. Is this...  
 _“Bill?!”_ Dipper exclaimed internally. He thought the demon heard his thoughts before he realized Bill was asleep.

This surprised Dipper. He simply assumed Bill didn’t sleep, with him being a dream demon and all.  
Dipper kept forgetting that as long as Bill was in human form, he needs everything a normal human needs in order to survive. Food, water, air, and sleep.

_“Uh...”_

Dipper faltered, still cuddled up against Bill.  
 _“Should I get up, or...?”_

“Mnh...”  
A sound interrupted Dipper’s thinking.

It was Bill, waking up.

“Still getting a hang of this _sleeping_ thing.” Bill groaned, squeezing the bridge of his nose.

Dipper was surprised at how deep Bill’s voice had become.

Dipper didn’t know what to do, so he acted like he was asleep.

Bill looked down at the boy and lightly stroked his cheek with a soft smile.

He got up and left the room.

Dipper waited a few seconds before getting up, making sure Bill was far enough.

_“That was...”_  
Dipper started.  
 _“Odd.”_

————————————

“Hey kid.” Bill sang, as Dipper walked into the main area of the Fearamid.

“Did you sleep well~?” He asked slyly, with his chin resting on both his hands.

Dipper narrowed his eyes.

“I know _I_ did.” The demon winked.

_“This guy cannot be serious.”_ Dipper thought.

“When’re you gonna give up on this ‘sexy suave demon’ act?” He rolled his eyes.

Dipper reddened, realizing what he had said.  
 _“Aaaand you dug your own grave.”_ He told himself.

Bill raised an eyebrow playfully.  
“Sexy?”

_Wait._

Dipper got an idea.  
 _“I hate the fact that Bill keeps spewing out these flirtatious comments, right?”_ He thought.  
 _“I should show him just how irritating it really is.”_

Dipper proceeded to give the dream demon a wink and a smirk.

Bill was surprised that Dipper was being so daring.  
Even when it‘s easy to tell the boy was anxious.

Bill chuckled.  
“Getting bolder, I see?”

“Only if you want me to~” Dipper replied, laying a hand on Bill’s knee.  
He was too nervous to go any higher, but he’d never let Bill notice.

“Hah, I’ve totally got this.” Dipper thought.

Bill snickered bitterly.  
In the blink of an eye, he was behind Dipper.  
The boy instantly tensed up.

_“Don’t tease me like that, kid.”_ He whispered into Dipper’s ear, sending chills down his spine.  
 _“You might not like what happens after.”_

There it was again... that cold, deep voice of his.

_“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Pine Tree.”_

Dipper’s heart was practically pounding out of his chest. He had no idea why. Was he nervous? Scared?

“I-I’m...” He nervously chuckled.  
“I’m just messing with you, lay off.”

“Why’d he get so serious all of the sudden? I thought teasing others was his speciality.” Dipper thought.   
“And why is my face so hot?!”

“Pff.” Bill spoke, interrupting the younger male’s train of thought.

“Watching you overthink is hilarious.” He started. “Loosen up, kid,”  
“You’re acting as if no one’s ever been that close to you.”

Dipper looked down, embarrassed.

“Wait,” Bill began.

“HAHA,” he laughed, after noticing the look on the brunet’s face.

“Could it be~?”

“Shut up.” Dipper cut in.

“Our little Pine Tree is a...” 

“Don’t say it.”

“Virgin?”

Dipper‘s face went red, with both anger and embarrassment.

“Seeing you get all mad is adorable.” Bill chirped.

There was a short pause before Dipper spoke.

“What did you just call me?” He muttered, eye twitching almost comically.

“Adorable.” Bill repeated, putting a finger on his cheek and winking. Mocking how Dipper did at the end of the Lamby Lamby dance.

Dipper stood up, looking ominous.

Bill cackled as he ran away from the brunet. 

“You can’t catch me!”

“We’ll see about that, Dorito!” Dipper shouted as he tackled Bill to the ground.

“Who’s adorable now, huh Cipher?” Dipper boasted, pleased with himself.

“Still you, Dippin’ Sauce!” Bill snickered.

“Pff, whatever.” Dipper laughed.

Dipper started to get up off of the ground before something he saw completely stopped him in his tracks. He saw a silhouette quickly scamper away in the distance, doing so after realizing Dipper had looked its way.  
This was nothing out of the ordinary, he _did_ live with a bunch of demons after all. But this... this felt different.

“Did you see that?” He asked Bill.

“See what?” Bill asked, following the brunet’s gaze.

“Never mind.” Dipper shrugged it off.

—————————————

The weather was cloudy and windy. Mabel could see the grey rain clouds forming even when it was pitch black outside. She heard the wind whistle through the trees.  
She was lying in her room, staring at Dipper’s empty bed.  
 _“I miss you, Bro-Bro.”_ She whispered through tears.

She knew Dipper was safe, or that’s what’s he told her at least. He looked fine too. But she couldn’t shake this feeling — this awful feeling. Was it loneliness? Despair?  
She had never been away from her twin for this long, they‘ve always been attached at the hip. 

“That’s it.” She said to herself, wiping away her tears.

She jumped out of bed and ran to Stan’s room, busting open the door to find the old man asleep.

“Grunkle Stan, wake up wake up wake up!” She repeated, shaking Stan vigorously.

“Huh?!” Stan sat up in bed, looking confused and surprised.  
“Jesus, kid. I’m no spring chicken, you might give me a heart attack one of these days.”

Mabel ignored the comment and got straight to the point.

“We’ve gotta save Dipper.” She said, determined.

Stan looked at her sympathetically.

“Mabel, you don’t think that’s what I want too? I’d give anything to get Dipper back, to go back to before this whole _Weirdmageddon_ thing happened, to- to,” he sighed, defeatedly.   
“Remember what Ford said? We just can’t risk it.” He added, rolling over and covering himself in his blanket.

“Grunkle Stan, he’s my whole world. We’ve lived through everything together. _Everything._ You can’t give up that easily,” she started tearing up. “Or at least, I won’t. Not to Bill, not to anyone.”

Stan remembered his previously broken relationship with his brother, and how he’d never want Mabel or Dipper to go through that.

Stan sighed.  
“You better have a fool-proof plan by tomorrow, kid.”

Mabel lit up. One down, one more to go!

“Alright. It’s settled then,”  
She beamed.  
“We’re getting Dipper back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote a bunch of chapters for ch5; one was super fluffy, the second was this (aka the one where I toned down the fluffiness), and the third was another type of tooth-rotting fluffy chapter.   
> Also, a lot of things have come up so I’m so sorry for not updating as frequently! I’ll be updating way more often, don’t worry!


	6. A Disguise

“Okay, we’ve gotta be really careful about this.”  
Mabel started, laying down a map of the Fearamid she managed to snag from Ford.

“If Bill catches on, who knows what he’ll do to us — or Dipper.”

“Yeah, yeah I get it. A quick job, in and out.” Stan said impatiently.  
“This isn’t my first rodeo, kid.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s your first rodeo with an otherworldly dream demon who could rearrange our guts with a snap of his fingers, though.”  
“...Which is why we need to have a flawless plan!” She added.

“Yikes, you’re really serious about this, huh?”

“It’s because I know what Bill’s capable of.”

“And you still chose to save your brother?”

“Well... yeah.”

A few seconds pass by before Stan speaks.

“I appreciate the hustle,” he nodded his head in approval.  
“Now what’s the plan?”

“First, we’ll need a disguise,” Mabel started.

They both started brainstorming before Mabel spoke.

“Wait, I’ve got an idea!”

 _“Finally, my expert craftsmanship comes in handy!”_ She squealed internally.

“We’re gonna need... _a lot_ of glitter.” She said with a starry look in her eyes.

“You’re kidding-“

 _“Shh, do not question the craftswoman.”_ She jokingly whispered.  
“You‘ll know what I’m doing soon enough.” She giggled.

Stan shook his head.  
“...I’m too old for this.”

——————————————

Dipper looked at Bill, then down at his plate.  
“Is this even safe for me to eat?” He asked, looking down at his plate which had a single vegetable, some odd blue paste, and an uncooked heart that seemed to be... beating?

“Define... _safe._ ” Bill replied.

“Yeah I’ll pass.” Dipper said, pushing the plate away from him. He slouched forward and groaned.

“You seem tired.” Bill spoke, eyeing Dipper’s dark circles.

“I didn’t get much sleep today,” Dipper murmured, laying his head on the table in front of him.  
“I never do.” He added.

“You looked fine yesterday.” Bill remarked.

“That’s...”  
“Different.” Dipper muttered.  
He remembered waking up next to Bill yesterday, and how it was the only day he slept well.

 _“No no no, all a coincidence.”_ Dipper thought.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I _am_ a dream demon after all.” Bill remarked in a self-satisfied way.

“Please, the last thing I want is for you to mess around in my head.” Dipper retorted.

“Why? Are you hiding something?” Bill teased.

“Oh go to hell.”

“Aww you get cranky when you don’t take your naps!” He continued to taunt.

Dipper glared at the demon.

“Okay, okay! I’ll stop,” Bill laughed.

Dipper opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by 8-Ball barging in, sounding out of breath.  
“Boss, we need you.” He huffed.

“What happened?” Bill asked.

“Well...” 8-Ball trailed off, glancing at Dipper.

“I see. I’ll be there in a bit.” Bill nodded.

“Catch ya later, kid.” He winked, as he stood up and left the room.

“Yeah.”  
“Catch you later...” He repeated Bill’s words to the empty room.  
When the boy peered out of the room, he saw a part of Bill transform into his triangular form — before the demon walked out of sight. For a split second, it surprised the brunet. Dipper got so used to Bill’s human form, he almost forgot how he actually looked. Dipper wondered how uncomfortable it had to be for Bill, to constantly be in another form — just so Dipper could be safe.

 _“Maybe he isn’t too bad.”_ Dipper thought to himself.

——————————————

_“MABEL!”_ Stan whisper-shouted.

 _“WHAT?”_ She replied in the same manner.

“The glitter’s itchin’ me in places I shouldn’t mention.”

“Gross. TMI Grunkle Stan!” She rolled her eyes.

They were both standing outside the Fearamid, just out of sight — and were wearing poorly made sock-costumes. Mabel was a hot-pink 7 eye’d monster with abnormally long toes while Stan was a tall, green 4-headed monster with an unusually large buck-tooth.

“Okay. Easy plan. We get in, get Dipper, get out — and we avoid Bill.” Mabel said carefully, making sure Grunkle Stan remembered the plan.

“Got it. And where’s the kid at?”

“Probably in some broken down cage with lions who haven’t been fed in days.” She cringed at the thought.

Stan opened his mouth to comfort the girl before he heard a muffled “Oink” come from Mabel’s costume.

“...What was that?” He questioned.

“What was what?” She asked innocently.

Her response made Stan wonder if he had actually heard anything or if it was just his old-man ears playing tricks on him.

“Anyway... are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Stan sighed, though still sounding determined.

“On three.”

Stan nodded.

“One...”  
“Two...”  
“Three!”

They ran inside and hid behind a large pillar, making sure none of the Henchmaniacs saw them.  
“We’ll start with that room.” Mabel pointed at the throne room.

They started walking before a voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Now that that’s taken care of...” A voice spoke, seemingly coming from the next room.

It was Bill.

 _“He’s walking over here, hide!”_ Mabel whispered, frantically.  
_“Where?! This room is huge!”_ Replied Stan, annoyance edging his voice.

“Uh...”  
“Uhm...” Mabel started panicking, hearing Bill come closer.

“Mabel?!” 

_“Think, quick!”_ Was the only thing going through Mabel’s head.

“It’s too late now, act natural!” Mabel blurted out.

The two turned around so their backs were facing the dream demon entering the room. Mabel was staring at the ceiling, looking unusual.  
_“So much for ‘act natural.’”_ She internally cringed at how unnatural she looked.  
Stan faked a sweeping motion, as if he had a broom. All he could do was pray Mabel’s puppet-making skills were good enough to trick the dream demon.

Bill started walking across the throne room to get to the room Dipper was in. He almost got there before he suddenly turned around and faced the two Pines’.

Bill started speaking.  
“Hey, you two.”  
“I haven’t seen you around here before, have I?” He voiced.

Mabel’s adrenaline levels were through the roof. If she messed this up, who knows what would happen to her and Stan.  
“We’re one of your Henchmaniacs, boss!” Mabel expressed in the raspiest, deepest voice she could muster; she tried to mask her true voice as well as she could.

Bill narrowed his eye at the pair.  
“I handpick each one of my Henchmaniacs, and I don’t remember you two.”

“Ah... just kidding!” Mabel nervously laughed.  
“We’re here for the party. We’re friends of...”  
“Uh...” She trailed off.

“The keyhole guy!” Stan screeched in the highest-pitched voice he could orate.

After a while of Bill skeptically squinting at them, he finally spoke.  
“Ah, why didn’t you just say so?”  
“The Henchmaniacs are over there.” He said, pointing at a flight of black and purple stairs that lead to who-knows-where.

“Right, thank you, boss!” Mabel spoke and nudged Stan’s shoulder, signaling him to leave.

“Welp, we’ll be off!” Stan said as they both turned around and started walking away.

They both started walking away before Mabel tripped over her abnormally long monster toes — resulting in her falling face first, making her mask fly off.  
When she fell, Stan heard that “Oink” again, but it was more of a yelp this time.

Bill turned around to see what the sudden sound was before he saw the other Pines twin lying there.

“WHAT?!” He shouted as he instinctively tripled in size and towered over the other two.

“Jesus...” Stan spoke as he watched the demon grow.  
“RUN!” Mabel screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbing Stan’s hand.

Bill regained composure of himself and shrunk to his normal size.

“You really think you can outrun me?” He chuckled and froze the two.

“Now, what the fuck are you doing in my Fearamid?” He asked as he unfroze their mouthes.

“We’re rescuing Dipper, you freak.” Stan grumbled.

“Ah, of course you are.” Bill rolled his eye.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, old man,”  
“Pine Tree doesn’t _need_ saving.”

Stan and Mabel looked beyond confused.

“He loves it here.” Bill scoffed.

“Do you really think we’re that stupid, you dumb triangle?!” Mabel shouted.

“HAHA. I don’t just think so, Shooting Star — I know so.”

Mabel ignored his taunting comment.

“Hello? Did you forget that you tried to kill everybody? INCLUDING Dipper?!” She shouted.  
“He’s probably locked up somewhere, sad, alone — just waiting for us to save him. And that’s what we’re gonna do. Whether you like it or not.”

“Locked up? You’ve got this all wrong, Shooting Star. He’s having the time of his life.”

Wait.  
Now that Bill has thought about it, technically Dipper _is_ locked up, isn’t he? In his room, at least.  
_“But... he‘s happy here, right?”_ Bill thought to himself, before snapping back to reality.

“Tch.” Bill rubbed his temples, getting annoyed.

“Look.”  
“I’m not gonna hurt you two,” he began.

Stan and Mabel collectively let out a relieved sigh.  
“On one condition,”  
“You don’t come back.” He added.

Mabel shot him an “are you serious?” look.  
“No.” She blurted out.  
“We’re getting Dipper back,”  
“No matter what it takes.”

Bill laughed in their face, causing the two to instinctively flinch.

“Are you sure about that, Princess?” Bill grew taller and started turning a unnerving shade of dark red.

“Mabel...” Stan cautioned.

“I’m sure.” She said confidently — seemingly unwavered by Bill’s intimidating form.

Bill grinned condescendingly, trying to hide his irritation.  
“If threatening your own life won’t work... then maybe threatening your brother’s will have a different outcome.” He raised an eyebrow sinisterly.

“Don’t you dare do anything to him!” Mabel’s face twisted in anger.

“You know the rules, Shooting Star.”

After considering it for a few seconds, she had her answer.  
“Okay. Fine. We won’t come back,”  
“Just... don’t hurt him.” She winced at the thought.

“You’ve finally come to your senses,” Bill patronized.  
“The door’s that way.” He pointed to the exit as he unfroze them.

Stan and Mabel started walking towards the exit. They could practically _feel_ Bill watching them.

“Oh, and your brother better not hear about this,” Bill called after them.  
“Or else.”

Mabel and Stan were leaving the Fearmid, glancing back at the demon every few seconds whilst doing so. They hoped he’d leave before they left — so they could grab Dipper and run. That wasn’t the case, though. He was watching their every move. 

“Guess that was a fail.” Mabel muttered, throwing on her monster mask out of embarrassment and defeat.  
“You tried your best, kid.” Stan sighed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  
“My best wasn’t good enough,”  
Stan opened his mouth to speak before Mabel added.  
“But that doesn’t matter. We won’t give up.”  
Stan was surprised. He knew Mabel was courageous; but he never thought she’d willingly go up against Bill a second time.  
“That’s the spirit.” He smiled.

———————————

After watching the two Pines’ leave, Bill realized he felt strange. Very strange. He definitely didn’t like this feeling.

“Fuck this meat suit; it’s making me feel things.” He cursed, looking down at himself — before realizing that he _wasn’t_ in his human form.  


This left him shell-shocked. Bill always assumed these weird emotions he keeps experiencing is simply because he’s in the body of a human.

“Does that mean...” Bill had a sudden realization.

_It was him._

No matter what form he was in, he still felt the same towards Dipper.  
Usually they were good feelings, but this time... it’s different. He felt... _guilty._ Especially hearing those words Mabel said.

 _“He’s probably locked up somewhere, sad, alone — just waiting for us to save him.“_  
He repeated Mabel’s words in his head.

“Could it be? Dipper really _does_ hate it here?” He whispered to himself, before his thought process was interrupted by someone opening the door behind him.

“Hey.”

Bill turned around to find the younger male standing there.  
He quickly transformed back into his human form as to not hurt the brunet.

“Are you okay...? You seem a bit shaken up.” Dipper asked, with a hint of worry in his voice.

The older male couldn’t do anything but stare at the boy.

“Bill?” 

The demon’s heart fluttered when he heard Dipper speak his name so innocently.

“...Yes?” He replied, after what seemed like an eternity of gazing at the younger male.

“Uhm, you were taking a while so I decided to come and...” Dipper was about to say ‘-check up on you’ but he stopped himself.  
_“You’re not his mom, dumbass.”_ He told himself.  
“...I decided to see what’s up.” He completed.

Bill smiled softly at the fact that the brunet worried for him, before he realized Dipper asked him a question.

“Oh, uh-“  
“Pyronica got her head stuck in the punch bowl again.”

“Ah, was that all the ruckus I was hearing?”

“Sure was.” Bill replied unenthusiastically. He hated lying to the boy.

That surprised Dipper. When was Bill ever _not_ enthusiastic? That was suspicious to say the least.

“Anyway...”  
“It’s getting pretty late,” Dipper glanced toward the exit of the Fearmid — it was dark already.  
“I should go sleep.”

Bill said nothing, he simply followed the brunet to his room.

This was very out of character for the blond. Dipper thought so, at least. The last thing he would expect of Bill is to be quiet. I mean, what he said was practically bait for one of Bill’s flirtatious jokes.  
He’d been acting odd since 8-Ball called him over earlier. Dipper grew more and more suspicious by the second, before they both arrived at his bedroom.

“Hey, kid? I’ve got a question for you.” Bill said, his cheeks reddening slightly.

“Yeah?” Dipper replied, opening his bedroom door.

“Well-“ Bill started before he was interrupted by a jarring noise coming from the inside of Dipper’s room.

**“Oink!”**

“Shit!” Dipper exclaimed, startled by the noise.

“Is that...” he started, making his way to whatever made the noise.

 _“It can’t be.”_ Dipper thought.

_**“Waddles?!”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy! <3


End file.
